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Friday, July 2, 2004 - 4:03amSanction this postReply
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“The early bird catches the worm”.

I have thought about this quote many times and how it relates to us humans. When someone obtains an item, by having it first, and it does not seem to belong to anyone else at the time, they claim ownership of it. Here are a few examples.

 

Little Johnny plays with little Jimmy’s toy. Jimmy finds out, has a fit, and screams his head off. Mom comes along and says: “Jimmy stop screaming, Johnny can play with it, because he had it first.” She ignores the fact that the toy actually belonged to Jimmy.

 

You are busting to go to the toilet. Much to your surprise, you find that there is a queue, at the men’s room, so you decide to wait in line. You respect the fact that the person in front of you got there first and you allow him the space in front of you. Besides, you wouldn’t push ahead the queue, because you yourself know how angry you get when someone else does it to you.

 

Whilst taking a rest on a rock overlooking the countryside in Africa, I came to realise that my chances of owning such vast beautiful land was rather slim. The farmer I had met the previous night boasted of how he loved owning the hundreds of square kilometres and how his forefathers had obtained the land, merely by staking it out and being there first.

 

These are only a few examples and I am sure all of you know what I am talking about.

 

Usually when you claim ownership of something, whether it’s an object or just space, there is a transaction or trade that occurs that keeps the other party content. A mutual respect exists, where I for instance accept the fact that you have put your boundary around some land on our island. Whether you have paid me, fought me, or just asked me for it. However, there is this thing of “first come first served” that really bothers me. Very often it is not justified and illogical, and is mostly protected by some greater force of fear. In the first example, you have mother, in the second you have the person in front of you, and the third, you have the farmer or even the government, protect this rule by force.

 

Often, especially in New Zealand, and other parts of the world, you have huge land settlement claims being paid out to the natives of the country. This is justified by them having been there first. In order to pay out, the government takes the money by force from the taxpayers, who had nothing to do with the so-called theft of the land, and transfers it to the natives. This is an immoral act, but how moral was it for the natives to say that the land actually belonged to them. Did they not steal the land from the people of the rest of the world, whether they were there at the time or not?

 

In nature, when you watch the early bird catch the worm, another bird takes it away. The stronger, quicker and more intelligent bird always wins. We on the other hand have created this rule that we cannot take the “worm” away, merely because someone else had it first, and because we fear taking it away.

 

 


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